Strength Standards for The Big Compound Weight Lifting Exercises

I recently received a question about strength standards for compound weight lifting exercises.

Robert, a long time follower of WLC, was wondering how strong he should be…

And what goals to strive for on the recommended exercises.

With the WLC System, we always recommend the big compound weightlifting exercises be the focus and center of every weight lifting program.

These exercises include:

• Squats
• Deadlifts
• Bench Press
• Rows
• Overhead Press
• Dips
• Pull Ups

Any variation of version of the above weight lifting movements will also work great.

So Robert wanted to know about strength standards for each of the above exercises. How would he know when he is considered to be at a beginner level or an advanced level?

We have answered his questions below and wanted to share it with you. A big thanks to Robert for asking great questions. This will help many people in the future.

Robert's Question About Strength Standards

Subject: Strength Standards for Weight Lifting Exercises

From: Robert

Question:

Hey josh,

I am trying to make up my goals for my next weight lifting cycle and am setting new goals for the exercises you have recommended.

I don't know how much weight I should be lifting for squats, dead lifts, rows, bench, press.

What weights are considered good for someone like me? Thanks for the help.

Robert

Response from Josh About Strength Standards

Robert, there's actually a very good set of strength standards already available that I have used myself for many years.

It includes the squat, deadlift, bench press, clean, and the overhead press.

Here's a link to the category page and then you can click on each of the links from there to find the strength standards table for each of the weight lifting exercises:

Strength Standards for Weight Lifting Exercises

And what's great about the link above is that it gives the strength standards for both men and women. Plus it gives the numbers for:

• Untrained
• Novice
• Intermediate
• Advanced
• Elite

So you can really measure your strength by your current body weight and compare it to someone who doesn't even train at all.

This strength standards information is great for setting goals for your upcoming weight lifting program using the WLC System.